Colin's posts

Raph just chuckled.

"Life happens." he said.

"And I admit, that was a smidgen of a mood-killer at the time." he then admitted. "However, I don't feel it's COMPLETELY ruined, if you don't." he stated, smiling at her.

"Because it takes more than THAT to ruin time with YOU." he continued.

"I'd move everything on earth to be with you."

"Ok." Ashley responded.

"Sorry I interrupted..." he then apologised, as Anya hugged him from behind.

"It's okay, dear." she said in a calm, cooing tone. "We're not mad, I promise." she said. "I'M not, at least." she then added.

"Neither am I." Raph assured him.

Ashley nodded in understanding, before excusing himself and quickly leaving, the two there waiting and listening VERY closely, until they heard his footsteps leave, the door shut, and then heard his receding footsteps outside.

That's when Raph let out a heavy sigh.

"Was NOT expecting THAT." he told Anya.

"...." Raph was silent for a moment, as Ashley tried his best to compose himself.

"So... so what was happening WASN'T a bad thing?" he asked.

"Not in this case." Raph responded. "Sometimes it IS a bad thing. A very bad thing." he told him. "So your response to what you saw and heard was perfectly reasonable. If anything, it was nice of you to immediately try and help Anya when you saw her in what you perceived as danger." he then stated. "However... in this particular case, what we were doing was something that we both agreed to, and we both like." he continued.

"Adults are... weird and complicated." he then mumbled.

"...I think I don't want to keep thinking about this right now." Ashley then said. "I mean, I think I get it, but... I just want to go back and be with Lindsay, and continue being outside and stuff." he told them.

"...and not tell him about this." he then added at the end.

Ashley paused for a moment, before mumbling something. It was soft, but barely audible. And it seemed like Ashley had withdrawn a bit into himself saying it, like it had reminded him of something bad.

And no wonder.

Both Raph and Anya barely heard it, but they heard it.

"...mistress often used 'that' as punishment..." was what Ashley had said.

And Raph looked to have an expression of shock, horror, and disgust for a moment upon hearing it.

Raph could only laugh a little more at Anya's comment to him, as Ashley paused again.

"...oh." he said. "No... no we didn't find it." he told her.

"But-but-but, what he was doing!" he then exclaimed.

"He was hurting you!" he said.

"That's bad and you don't deserve it!" he insisted.

Ashley thrashed and struggled valiantly as he was pulled off and held... but the sudden change in tone, as well as what Anya had said, made him paused suddenly, several things going through his mind.

But there was her question.

"I... needed to get a pencil to write stuff down before we tested stuff." he told her. "Lindsay and I couldn't find one in the packs." he said further.

"But what was all this? That man was hurting you!" he then declared angrily, looking at Raph with the best glare he could muster.

This just caused the man to chuckle.

"Well... I mean, the kid's not wrong." he admitted.

Ashly froze when he heard all that... but only for a brief second. He then shook his head and quickly followed the sounds... and when he arrived at the source, he peered into the room, and his heart sank a little.

He saw Anya... laying down... with someone else on top of her. And they looked to be getting very violent with her. He saw some hits, he was sure of it, and slaps as well.

Then, his body seemed to move on its own, as he dashes forward, leaped into the air, and landed on the man's back.

"What the hell!?" Raph exclaimed, as he felt a painful burning sensation on his back.

"Stop hurting her!" Ashley exclaimed tearfully.

Raph flicked his wrist, and it seemed like two fancy tall glasses appeared, held by their stems, between his fingers. His smirk grew, as his other hand produced the bottle he'd told her about.

"I just stumble." he told her.

--

The sun had set a bit ago, and Ashley and Lindsay were safe in their cave, the 'glow' not being a problem that night. They were getting ready to test the specimens they gathered, when Lindsay paused.

"...I can't find any pencils." he told his brother.

"Hm." Ashley responded. "I'll rush back home, sneak in, and grab one. Wait here." he said.

With that, he slipped out of the cave and quietly weaved his way back home, approaching the back door and seeing it was slightly ajar.

"...what...?" he mumbled, slowly opening it and quietly stepping inside.

The next thing Anya knew, Raph had shifted himself, and she felt herself falling back. However, she was caught a second later, and found herself laying in his lap, with him smiling down at her.

"We'll start slow." he said.

"And let it ramp up from there." he told her.

"I have a bottle of the good stuff." he then revealed, knowing she knew what he meant. "Managed to smuggle it down. So we should do the right thing and make the evidence disappear."

"Hmph." the male spat, draping an arm over her shoulders when she leaned against him.

"Gabe can mind his own damn business." he told her. "Nothing is stopping ME from seeing you. Least of all HIM." he stated, before smirking.

"Besides, Sari has him distracted with errands. So there you go." he then said further.

"Here I am." he stated.

"And you are a sight for sore eyes."

No sooner had she muttered that phrase, did she feel a very strong, almost oppressive... but VERY familiar presence... right beside her. As in, literally, right beside her, not even a few inches.

She just smirked and looked over slightly, seeing a man in a simple cloth shirt and pants, wearing simple footwear as well, akin to sandals. His face was absolutely stunning, though, and his hair was short and jet-black, almost as though it were a portal, or a hole in time and space.

And he was fit, as well. His muscles didn't bulge out, not were they even quite noticeable, but she knew that if one were to look closer, they'd see the outlines of tight, packed, cord-like muscle wrapped around his bones.

He smiled at her when she looked at him.

"Is that even a question." he responded flatly. "Takes more than heaven and earth to stop me when it comes to THIS." he commented further.

"5 new things! Got it!" Lindsay said back.

"We won't let you down!" Ashley declared.

And apparently that was a burst of encouragement for them, because their picked up their pace to the point of running towards the forest.

"See you later!" they both called to her in unison.

"Bye for now!" they added, turning slightly and waving to her as they slowly left her sight, and disappeared into the woods.

"We're prepared for 4 nights." Ashley responded. "But, as usual, the 4th is emergency, so we plan for 3 nights." he told her. "So after three moons, we'll be back." he continued.

"And you know we've gotten good at planning that." Lindsay then added.

"Yep." Ashley agreed.

"So we'll be back in the morning after the 3rd moon." he stated.

"And with that... we should be good to go." Lindsay finished.

A couple of months passed, and Ashley and Lindsay had just prepared for another outing into the woods, with 3 nights staying out there. They'd found out a lot about what was edible and what was dangerous, and Anya seemed to be very proud of them.

Lindsay also seemed to be a lot less shy and more open, while Ashley became QUITE attached to her as a mother figure.

They just finished with their packs, and looked at her.

"We're off again." Lindsay said.

"You seem really happy, too." Ashley commented to her.